Construction of Peptide Vaccine Candidate Based on β-Cell Epitopes of Indonesian Monkeypox Virus (MPXV) Virulence Protein:A Reverse Vaccinology

Abstract

Infection with a DNA virus called monkeypox virus (MPXV) in humans has been identified in the Congo since 1970. Antiviral drugs are not effective for preventing MPXV infection. MPXV infection cases in Indonesia are very low but MPXV has the potential to become a global pandemic so it is very important to do prevention such as vaccine development. This study aims to construct a B cell epitope-based peptide vaccine candidate in Indonesian MPXV through an in silico approach.The development of the MPXV vaccine can be performed through a computational approach for preliminary studies. In silico-based construction of vaccines using B cell epitopes, antigenicity, allergenicity, docking, and molecular dynamics analysis have been used by researchers and scientists in solving viral infection cases. We recommend Pep A and Pep D as vaccine candidates because they allow recognition by B cells, antigenic peptides, non-allergenic and non-toxin. Peptide vaccine candidate can trigger B-cell activation to produce IgM isotype-specific antibodies through BCR interaction. In summary, the results of this study can be used for an initial study of MPXV vaccine development in Indonesia.